Cause of Franklin building fire unknown

DAN SEUFERTUnion Leader CorrespondentJanuary 24. 2014 1:40PMFRANKLIN – The eight people who fled a fire in their 18 Auburn St. apartment building into the frigid cold early Thursday morning have found temporary housing with the help of the American Red Cross, fire officials say.

There is better news for many of them, too, as firefighters stopped the fire from causing more damage to the house. Parts of the first two floors were damaged, said Fire Department Capt. Bruce Goldthwaite.

"But most of the house is repairable, we made a good save," Goldwaithe said.

The two-alarm blaze was reported at 1:05 a.m. When firefighters arrived on scene five minutes later, smoke alarms were sounding throughout the multi-family home and all eight occupants were safely out of the building, he said.

A resident dialed 911 to alert authorities of the fire.

One building resident was evaluated by EMTs but was not transported to the hospital, according to a fire official,

Firefighters had a tough time locating the flames which went into the walls and floors, as well as battling the blaze due to ice and the extreme cold. It took a little more than two hours for the fire crews to get the blaze under control.

One firefighter slipped on ice and was later examined at the hospital.

Officials believe the fire was caused by a second floor fireplace, but aren't quite sure of the cause yet.

"It's not believed to be suspicious though," he said. "As of now, we haven't been able to determine a cause."

Seven area fire departments assisted at the scene while Andover Fire Department and Penacook Rescue covered the station. They ended up being called out to extinguish a vehicle fire.